Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
| Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui | |
|---|---|
 Crest of the Province | |
| Headquarters | 1 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong |
| Territory | Hong Kong and Macau SAR |
| Official website | http://www.hkskh.org |
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Abbr: SKH; Chinese: 香港聖公會), also known as Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal), is the Anglican Church in Hong Kong and Macau. It is the 38th Province of the Anglican Communion (Chinese: 普世聖公宗). It is also one of the major denominations of Protestant Church in Hong Kong. The Church, besides establishing parishes and churches, also actively develops education and social service to bring harmony, peace and joy to the Hong Kong community.
The Most Reverend Paul Kwong is the current Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui and Bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island with his seat at the St. John's Cathedral. It is notable that the Rt Revd Dr. Thomas SOO, Bishop of the Diocese of Western Kowloon, is also the chairman of Hong Kong Christian Council and the Board of Hong Kong Bible Society.
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Church[1] is a global family and a fellowship of churches which trace their roots to the Church of England, with a province being a basic autonomus unit. There are presently 38 provinces in the world, each is an independent and self-governing congregation of faith, spanning over 160 countries. With over seventy seven million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest[2] communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In the Worldwide Anglican Communion, there is no central government. Churches from all around the world uphold and proclaim the Catholic and Apostolic faith, fellowship is built up base on common belief.
The most front-line unit of Church is the "parish". Parishes of similar vicinity are then grouped together to form a "diocese". Dioceses sharing similar cultural and national background would unite and form a "province", participating in the Worldwide Anglican Communion under the leadership and jurisdiction of an archbishop.
Four Instruments of Unity for the Anglican Communion comprises:[1]
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Anglican Faith
The Anglican Faith undoubtedly based on the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments, as "containing all things necessary to salvation", and as the rule and ultimate standard of faith. The Church also professes the faith, as summed up in the Nicene Creed (as baptismal symbol) and the Apostle's Creed (as sufficient statement of Christian faith), holds to the Doctrine which Christ commanded, and to the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Eucharist) which Christ ordained, and accepts the Lord's Discipline, according to the Commandment of God.
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui further maintains the ministry of the Church which it has received through the historic Episcopacy in the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, orders which have been in Christ's Church since the time of the Apostles. To sum up, the Church has strong theological belief and tradition, clear system in Sacraments and services, as all these are part of the Anglican faith.[1][3]
History and Origin
Church developed after the ascension of Christ Jesus and has a long history of growth and development. Sheng Kung Hui has started God's work in Hong Kong since 1843. The first Chinese church, St. Stephen's Church, was found in 1865. From then onwards, in the course of development of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong and Macau, churches continued to grow and witnessed the establishment of the Diocese of Victoria (Chinese: 維多利亞教區) in 1849 under the See of Canterbury; the establishment of the Kong Yuet Diocese (Chinese: 港粵教區) under the Province of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (Chinese: 中華聖公會) in 1913; and the birth of the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau (Chinese: 港澳教區) in 1951, which was subsequently completely separated from the national Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui.
In the 40th Diocesan Synod of the Diocese held in December 1991, it was resolved that steps were to be taken to expand the Diocese into a province and eventually in 1998, the Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui was established, continuing to preach and to serve.[3]
Structure
Dioceses and Missionary Area
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui consists of three dioceses and one missionary area. There is a bishop in each diocese. The dioceses are:
- The Diocese of Hong Kong Island
- The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon
- The Diocese of Western Kowloon
(The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon and the Diocese of Western Kowloon are divided by the geographical constituencies of the Legislative Council.)
The missionary area is:
- The Missionary Area of Macau
Parishes and churches
A complete list is also available in Chinese Wikipedia
General synod
The Provincial General Synod is composed[3]of the House of Bishop, the House of Clegy and the House of Laity. Members come from the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, the Diocese of Eastern Kowloon, the Diocese of Western Kowloon and the Missionary Area of Macau. Under the General Synod, there are different Commissions responsible for different areas of ministry, working together to glorify the Lord and to serve the people.
Mission and pastoral work
The Church is a comminity with no boundaries in age, social or ethnic status. Members include Chinese, Asian and Westerners from all over the world. The worship in Churches features Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Filipino languages. With the mercy of God, the work of the Church includes pastoral care, religious education, liturgy and scared music and missionary work.
- Pastoral Care
- On the parish level, pastoral care is given through fellowships for children, youth, adults, women, elderly and other related groups to cater to the different needs of people of various age groups and background. Retreats, silent meditation, pilgrimage and tours to the Holy Land are often arranged to heighten the awareness of faith and service. Caring for the elderly, family counselling service, spiritual support in hospitals, pastoral care in correctional institutes, mission to Seafarers and religious service at the Airport are some of the Church's pastoral service to the community at large.[1]
- Religious Education
- Religious education of parises are carried out by Sunday Schools, seminars, disciple training courses and catechism class, etc. The whole Church relies on the Religious Education and Resource Centre to co-ordinate religious education research, provision of religious education curriculum and promotion of religious education. Besides training ordinands, Ming Hua Thelogical College also provides multi-faceted theological, spiritual and biblical studies for laity.[1]
Social service
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui has been responsive to social needs, by providing a wide array of social services, aiming at achieving a fair, just and loving society. Social service of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui started in mid 18th Century. At present, many social service organizations and social service models in Hong Kong were those initiated and promoted by the Church. Services provided by the Church are multi-faceted, including services for family and child-care, children and youth, the elderly, rehabilitation service, community development service and other supportive services. There are more than 230 units providing social service run by Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui at present.[1]
Education
Since its establishment in 1849, Sheng Kung Hui has built many churches to proclaim the Gospel and spread the Christian message. It has also contributed a lot in the field of education over the decades. There are altogether 33 secondary schools sponsored by Sheng Kung Hui in the territory,[4] amongst which namely:
Primary schools
- Sheng Kung Hui Ho Chak Wan Primary School
- Sheng Kung Hui Tsing Yi Estate Ho Chak Wan Primary School
- Sheng Kung Hui Tsing Yi Chu Yan Primary School
Secondary schools
- Diocesan Boys' School
- Diocesan Girls' School
- Heep Yunn School
- Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School
- St. Paul's Co-educational College
- St. Paul's College
- St. Stephen's Girls' College
Theological College
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui runs its own bible college: Ming Hua Theological College
References
See also
Template:Christianity in China Portal
External links
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